


Insomnia

by Glowstickia



Series: Echoes of You [11]
Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: Bedsharing, Cuddling & Snuggling, F/M, Fluff, Fluffy February 2021, Mutual Pining, Only One Bed, Worry, fluffy february
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-26
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-17 10:35:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29715891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glowstickia/pseuds/Glowstickia
Summary: Echo couldn't sleep. Not until Nick came back.
Relationships: Nick Valentine/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Echoes of You [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1718185
Comments: 4
Kudos: 7





	Insomnia

**Author's Note:**

> Day 26 of [Fluffy February:](https://fluffyfebruary.tumblr.com/post/639602426793623552/fluffy-february-prompts) Insomnia / falling asleep in each other’s arms / bedsharing
> 
> And a dash of uh... Day 21 as well😉

Echo hated being cooped up. Hated having to wait behind. It was dark outside. Had been for-. She checked the pocket watch again. Midnight was fast approaching.

Nick mentioned dipping out for a bit. Checking on something. A lead or clue. Whatever it was, he still wasn’t back yet...

No way in hell could she sleep. Paced and read and listened to the radio. She checked their supplies and the room the man at the front desk had given them keys to. All sorts of things to try and occupy her mind.

The pacing helped a bit, but it only carried her so far, before she started spiraling into restlessness and almost running into the side of the bed…

Too bad she left Dogmeat in Diamond City with Ellie. She could’ve really used his wise boofs and distracting fur to help calm her nerves.

“One more hour,” Echo told herself, taking a seat at the small kitchen table by the door and flipping through her notebook. She’d give him one more hour...

* * *

It was about 1:30 when the door opened.

Echo poked her head out of the bathroom as Nick attempted to be quiet with the door. She had turned off the lights about 40 minutes ago in another failed attempt to make herself sleep.

“You don’t have to be quiet.” She said, leaning against the bathroom’s door frame and crossing her arms.

Yellow eyes stared at her in the darkness.

“Didn’t want to wake you.” Nick admitted as he closed the door behind him.

She shrugged. “Couldn’t sleep.” _Not while you were out there._ She didn’t add. “Figured I’d wait up for ya til I could.”

It was…hard to read Nick’s face in the darkness. Would’ve been worse had she been wearing her sunglasses, but she wasn’t. It was at the table, left behind while she attempted to sort out her thoughts and try her hand at occupying her mind.

Nick shrugged off his trench coat and draped it over his arm. He removed his hat and placed it on the table next to her books and sunglasses. “Sorry I kept you waiting.” He said, finally looking her in the eye. “Didn’t realize I’d be gone so long. Figured, you’d uh…” he rubbed the back of his neck and looked down.

Echo pushed off the doorframe and walked a bit closer. “Not when I don’t know if-“ she crossed her arms and squeezed her elbows, “if you’re okay…”

Nick glanced at her and let his arm drop. He cleared his throat and took a few steps himself. “Well, I am now.” He said, and took a couple more, “Cold?” He asked, offering his trench coat.

She smiled a little as she took another step closer. “A little...” she admitted and let him drape his trench coat on her shoulders like he had many times before. His hands lingered at her shoulders. She dared another step closer. “Can...I um...” her lips thinned as she stared at the ground, “can I ask you something?”

He squeezed her shoulders as a smile pulled at his lips. “Of course.” He whispered.

Her face felt hot as she wrapped her arms around his waist. “Can you... can we share tonight?”

Nick absently tucked a stray lock of Echo’s hair behind her ear. “You sure you want this ol’ bucket of bolts?”

She shrugged. “Just...used to uh...” she cleared her throat, “Dogmeat helps...ground me and well...”

He nodded. “Well, while I’m probably not the best replacement-“

“ _Nick.”_

“-I’m sure he’d be disappointed in me if I didn’t keep my word.”

She shook her head, silently laughing as she buried her face into his shoulder. “Thank you.”

It took a bit of time for both of them to get comfortable. Nick had to make sure he wasn’t going to poke Echo with, anything _sharp._ Echo, meanwhile, had been struck with the realization of how close that had to be without either of them falling off the bed. There was some room, sure, but she became acutely aware of the _lack_ of distance between them.

And the fact she was using his chest as a pillow. His arm, protective and lazily pulling her in...closer. She could hear his internal workings, mechanical yet, soothing. It was rhythmic, almost like a clock, with the second hand ticking away at time. Yet, it also reminded her of a heartbeat... and of lungs taking calculative breaths.

Echo closed her eyes as she pulled herself a little closer and adjusted his coat over her shoulder. There were...blankets. The blankets were thin, well worn, and while they did the job, in her opinion, couldn’t match how warm and _safe_ she felt in this moment right now.

“Thank you, Nick.” She whispered as she drifted off to sleep.

Nick smiled at her. He knew she wouldn’t see, not with her eyes closed, and he was okay with that, for now anyways. He made as little movement as possible, slightly worried she’d stir if he moved too much too fast. He wasn’t ready for her to know. Not yet. Not as he gently grasped her limp hand on his chest.

He took risks all the time, but this was different than his usual ones. This didn’t involve mobsters emulating the pre-war days or being held prisoner for weeks while the warden baited him.

Nick gently rubbed small circles on the back of Echo’s hand and-. He acted on impulse.

His lips barely registered her skin as he held her hand to his mouth. He glanced down, worried that he had-. No. No. He didn’t wake her.

He relaxed and brought her hand back to his chest. He squeezed her hand three times while silently mouthing the words.

“I love you.”


End file.
